Manufacture of collars and cuffs.



J. E. BOWEN. MANUFACTURE or COLLARS AND CUFFS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- 20.1915- Patented Jan. 2251918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I vmron; H wig/M I ATTORNEYS o J. E. BOWEN. MANUFACTURE OF COLLARS AND CUFFS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 20 I915.

m R Nu m M. m m M m n n3 5 r n hm H s m n m aw P STATES P EENT OFFICE. 1

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LAWRENCE, IABSACHUBETTS, ASSIGHOB '10 JOHN MANNING VLII' HUBER, 0 BOSTON, IABSAOHUSETTS'. p

WACTUBE 01 GOLLABS AND (SUITS.

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Application fled 0mm 191 a. man No. man.

"To all whomit may concern:

- Be it known that I, Joan E. Bowen, a citizen of' the United States, residing at Lawrence, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and use- .ful. Improvements in the Manufacture of Collars and Cuffs; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as Wlll enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to vmake'and use the same.

-My invention relates to certain new and cuffs, and like articles adaptedto be fol ed along a wearing edge and to then receive a CllIVllinear set.

l In the accompanying drawings;-

Figure 1 represents, in end elevation, the forming roll of a loom, in its general relation to the fabric that is being woven;

Fig. 2' represents a plan view, partly broken away,.of the parts shown in Fig, 1;

Fig. -3 re resents diagrammatically a cross-sectiona view of the fabric taken on a pla e indicated'bythe line 3-3 of Fig. 45

4 represents: a plan view of a portion of the fabric, the top layer thereof being shown as partially broken away to disclose.

the interior construction; a

Fig. 5 represents a a perspective view,

partly in section and-partly broken away,

this view being likewise diagrammatic so as to illustrate more clearly the relative arrangement of the threads of the fabric;

Fig. 6 re resents a perspective view of a collar of t e folded or turned-down type made from the fabric produced in accordance with my invention;

collar lar parts throughout the several views;

In the practice of the invention, I am enabled to produce a collar of the folded or turneddown type and one whlch,

woven. will b a pted tereceive a curvireason of the way in which the fabric linear set and at the same time will be smooth and without folds or wrinkles on either its exterior surface or upon its interior or neck-band surface. So also in the practice of the invention, I am enabled to impart to the fabric a sufiicient amount of body to permit it to retain its upright and circular contour, without the use of starch or other stiffening agent. At the same time, the construction of the collar imparts to it suflicient flexibility to accommodate itself, without undue resistance, to the movements of the neck, so that it is devoid of the unyielding rigidity of the customary laundried collar. Furthermore, the fabric is so eonstructedalong the foldin or wearing edge that the fold may be ma e without putting an undue strain upon the fabric along that line and nevertheless without sacrifice of the desired regularity of outline of the wearing edge under the ordinary vicissitudes of wear throughout the varying seasons of the year.

In making up the wovenfabric, I construct it, as indicated particularly in Fig. 7, of a strip or a series of strips each made up of two panels a b with an intermediate fold portion 0 of increased flexibility-joinin the panels a b integrally. As illustrate in Fig. 2, it is desirable to weave, in a singlepiece, upon the same loom, a series of these panel strips, so that the output of a single operation may be correspondingly satisfactory in quantity, and these series of strips may thereupon be sub-divided into individ u'al units, as indicated in Fig. 7 From these units,the blank for the collar may be cut out with a suitable die alon the dotted lines shown in Fig. ,7. The blan thus cut out is shown in Fig. 8, and this blank may then be bound with suitable tape (1 and may receive the appropriate button holes as indicated at e. The blank may then be folded into the form shown, for instance, in Fig. 6.

Patented Jan. 22, 1918.

By reference toFig 6,- it will be noted 'that theinner panel a of the collar, and

the outer panel 6 thereof are both illustrated as presentin smooth unwrinkled surfaces. To accomplish this result, 'I so weave the individualstrips of the fabric that, in the. weaving operation a greater stretch will be imposed upon the part from which the panel 6' is out than upon the part from which the panel a is cut, so that the alternate panels will be woven longer than the intermediate panels, and so that the anal b will be longer than the panel a. T is is accomplished, as indicated in Fig. 2, by providin the zstretcherroll f of the loom with raise portions 9 corresponding to the .panels and with intervening depressed ortions h correspondingl to the panels a. 0 also, intermediate f t e panel a and the anel'b of each strip, I omit certain of the ongitudinal or warp threads, so as to lessen the rigidity of the fabric along said intermediate. portion. In practice, I find it suitable, in those instances in which the fabric is three-ply, as shown diagrammatically in Fig.3, to omit say 15 threads, .out of in the intermediate layer; it being assumed in this instance, that the number of wa threads to the inch is say three hundre ingv of theflexibility o the fabric along the edge .of' the completed collar.

intended fold, and'permits the fold to be made without utting an excessive strain upon the fabric along the line of bend, which line corresponds to the upper wearing The interweaving of the warp and weft threads of the inner and outer layers of the composite fabric is preferably continuous across the folding edge portion and, by reason of this fact, the weakened intermediate layer is suitably protected, along the fold on both sides t ereof. It will, of course, be understood that while, .for purposes of clearness and description, I have shown the intermediate edge fold rtion as of greatly exaggerated width, will, in practice, be of a width just suflicient to obtain the necessary fold of the collar,'as indicated more fully in Figs. 6 to 9- A greater width than that required for the mere folding of the panels into the form shown in Fig. die to be particularly avoided, for the reason that if the edge fold por'tionis wider than is necessary for the foldingeoperation, it tends to break down while ing worn, particularly if-it becomes moistened by perspiration. The various plies of the fabric, as will be readily understood, are bound together by the inter- .weaving of individual threads from the one ply to the'other during the weaving operatlon. x

As indicated in Fig; 7, the woven strip, or strips, when removed from the loom asme, along the edge fold portion, a curveture, due to the method of weaving herein! before described. I find, for instance, that war of similar articles such as folded cuffs than the inner in weavin the fabric, with the employment of three undred un wa yarns to the inch and two hun red we yarns to the inch, and with the omission of fifteen of the yarns alon the edge fold portion, I obtaln a series. 0 strips wherein the collar blanks, when folded, receive a smooth curvilinear set over the entire surface of both the inner and the outer panels thereof.

It will, of course, be understood that, if desired, the weakening of the fabric along the edge fold portion ma be obtained in one of the outer instead 0 the intermediate layer; or, in the intermediate layer and in one of the outer layers also". This weakening of additional layers may be of particular service in those instances where the yarn chosen is of a character and diameter requiring further weakening to obtain'the necessary fold, or where the layers are multiplied beyond three.

The invention contemplates the employment of any suitable and desired thread or yarn for the several layers of the fabric, and the selection, for instance, of yarns of different material for the mdividual la ers, as, or instance, where the outer face 0 the collar may be made of a finer and more expensive yarn than the inner or intermediate layers. It will also be understood that while I have chosen as the best illustration of the invention its adaptation to the manufacture of collars, the invention is also of a scope adapted to serve as the means of production and the like.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. "A folding collar or cuif, made up of an inner panel and an outer panel woven in one piece with an intermediate curvilinear weakened edge fold portion; substantially as described. a

2, A folding collar or eufl', made up of an inner panel and an outer panel woven in one piece with an intermediate curvilinear edge fold portion of increased flexibility, the outer panel being 'woven under greater tension panel; substantially as described.

3. A folding collarorcuff, made up of an inner panel and an outer panel woven in one piece with an intermediate curvilinear edge lOl Ill

fold portion of increased flexibility, the outer 5; A folding collar or cufi, made up of an Y inner panel and an outer panel of multipl fabric woven in one piece with an intermediate edge fold portion of increased flexibility, the outer panel being woven longer than the inner panel, substantially as described.

- one piece with an intermediate curvilinear edge fold portion, some of the warp threads of the fabric being omitted in the edge fold portion so as to weaken said portion; substantially as described.

8. A folding collar or end, made up of an inner panel and an outer panel woven of multiple fabric in one piece with an intermediate edge fold portion, some of the warp threads of the fabric being omitted in the edge fold portion and some of the weft threads being carried across said edge fold portion without being interwoven therein with the warp threads; substantially as described.

9. A folding collar -or cufi, made up of an inner panel and an outer panel woven of multiple fabric in' one piece with an intermediate edge fold portion weakened in its interior by'the omission of a portion of its warp threads and bygthe carrying over of a portion of its weft threads-without being interwoven with the warp-threads, said edge fold portion being faced exteriorly with interwoven weft and warp threads; substan tiallv as described.

10. In the manufacture of folding collars and cuffs, weaving the fabric from which they are to be cut 1n panels, one longer than the other, and omitting certain of the longitudinal or warp threads between said panels to give an intermediate weakened curvllinear edge fold portion, substantially as described.

11. In the manufacture of folding collars and cuffs of multiply fabric, weaving the multiply fabric from which they are to be out in panels, one longer than the other, and modifying the weave between said panels to give an intermediate curvilinear edge fold portion of increased flexibility, substantially as described.

12. In the'manufacture of folding collars and cuffs of multiply fabric, weaving the multiply fabric from which they are to be cut in panels, one longer than the other, and omitting certain of the longitudinal or warp threads of one or more of the plies at the intermediate portion between the anels to give a weakened curvilinear edgeold portion, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I alfix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN E. BOWEN.

MATTHEW A. GREGG. 

